Executive Summary
In a unique undertaking, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) and the Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University (CURP) have collaborated to investigate new approaches municipal officials and state agencies can employ to help attract new development to inner city communities. This research benefited from financial and technical support from NSTAR, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, and the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission.
Our goal in this project was to identify the key “deal breakers” that act as barriers to urban development and to identify potential public and private sector strategies aimed specifically at overcoming these obstacles to inner city corporate investment. We expected confirmation of the prevailing perception that older inner cities pose greater public safety problems and contain more environmentally polluted sites than “greenfields” in suburban locations. We also expected to hear…